Dough divider with pressure relief

ABSTRACT

A dough divider including a hopper with a lid and a press plate vertically slidable within the hopper. The hopper is adapted to accept dough between the lid and the press plate, and the press plate is adapted to move towards the lid in order to compress the dough between the press plate and the lid within the hopper. The dough divider further includes a two part pressure relief system including a reversible cylinder assembly and at least one pressure relief opening. The reversible cylinder assembly is connected to the press plate and adapted to move downward in order to allow the press plate to move towards a bottom of the hopper when pressure applied to a top of the press plate from the dough within the hopper reaches a predetermined level. The pressure relief opening is adapted to relieve pressure within the hopper between the press plate and the lid by allowing the dough to escape from the hopper through the pressure relief opening when the press plate has reached the bottom of the hopper.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to dough dividers, and in particular to doughdividers with a sealed chamber in which the dough is positioned.

Dough dividers are used extensively for dividing large masses of doughinto small, ready to use pieces of dough. Dough dividers are used in thepizza and bakery businesses for evenly dividing the large mass of doughinto, for example, an equal number of pizza crusts or loaves of bread.

Heretofore, dough dividers have included machines having sealablechambers, wherein the dough is placed within the chamber and compressedin order to have the dough completely and uniformly fill the chamber andevenly divide the dough. The dough dividers have a lid that closes thetop of the chamber and a bottom floor that can rise towards the lid inorder to compress the dough between the lid and the floor. After thedough has been compressed, knives are inserted through the floor of thedough divider in order to evenly divide the dough.

A problem with such dough dividers arises if the dough is left in thechamber for an extended period of time. As the dough remains in thechamber, yeast in the dough causes the dough to rise and thereby exertspressure against the lid of the chamber. Therefore, the chamber willhave a large amount of pressure acting against the bottom of the lid.This large amount of pressure acting against the bottom of lid can wedgethe locking mechanism of the lid, thereby making the lid very hard toopen. Furthermore, when the lid is finally opened, the lid will beforced rapidly and dangerously upward because of the pressure applied tothe bottom of the lid.

Accordingly, an apparatus solving the aforementioned disadvantages andhaving the aforementioned advantages is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the present invention is to provide a dough dividerincluding a hopper with a lid and a press plate vertically slidablewithin the hopper. The hopper is adapted to accept dough between the lidand the press plate, and the press plate is adapted to move towards thelid in order to compress the dough between the press plate and the lidwithin the hopper. The dough divider further includes a two partpressure relief system including a reversible cylinder assembly and atleast one pressure relief opening. The reversible cylinder assembly isconnected to the press plate and adapted to move downward in order toallow the press plate to move towards a bottom of the hopper whenpressure applied to a top of the press plate from the dough within thehopper reaches a predetermined level. The pressure relief opening isadapted to relieve pressure within the hopper between the press plateand the lid by allowing the dough to escape from the hopper through thepressure relief opening when the press plate has reached the bottom ofthe hopper.

The dough divider of the present invention is safe and easy to use. Thedough divider with pressure relief allows a person to easily dividelarge masses of dough and remove the dough from the dough divider easilyand without injury. The dough divider with pressure relief is efficientin use, economical to manufacture, capable of a long operable life, andparticularly adapted for the proposed use.

These and other features, advantages and objects of the presentinvention will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled inthe art by reference to the following specification, claims and appendeddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the dough divider of the presentinvention with a shell removed from a main body;

FIG. 2 is perspective view of the dough divider of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a hopper of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the hopper of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the dough divider of the presentinvention taken along the line V—V of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the hopper, lid and press plate ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper,” “lower,” “right,”“left,” “rear,” “front,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” and derivativesthereof shall relate to the invention as orientated in FIG. 1. However,it is to be understood that the invention may assume various alternativeorientations, except where expressly specified to the contrary. It isalso to be understood that the specific devices and processesillustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the followingspecification are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive conceptsdefined in the appended claims. Hence, specific dimensions and otherphysical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed hereinare not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly stateotherwise.

The reference number 10 (FIG. 1) generally designates a dough dividerwith pressure relief embodying the present invention. The illustrateddough divider 10 is shown in FIG. 1 with a shell 11 (see FIG. 2)removed. The dough divider 10 includes a hopper 12 with a lid 14 and apress plate 16 vertically slidable within the hopper 12. The hopper 12is adapted to accept dough (not shown) between the lid 14 and the pressplate 16, and the press plate 16 is adapted to move towards the lid 14in order to compress the dough between the press plate 16 and the lid 14within the hopper 12. The dough divider 10 further includes a two-partpressure relief system including a reversible cylinder assembly 18 (FIG.5) and at least one pressure relief opening 20. The reversible cylinderassembly 18 is connected to the press plate 16 and adapted to movedownward in order to allow the press plate 16 to move towards a bottom22 of the hopper 12 when pressure applied to a top 24 of the press plate16 from the dough within the hopper 12 reaches a predetermined level.The pressure relief opening(s) 20 are adapted to relieve pressure withinthe hopper 12 between the press plate 16 and the lid 14 by allowing thedough to escape from the hopper 12 through the pressure relief openings20 when the press plate 16 has reached the bottom 22 of the hopper 12.

The illustrated dough divider 10 (FIG. 2) has a main housing body 26having a rectangular cross-section and rectangular faces, with the lid14 pivotally attached to the top of the main housing body 26. The lid 14is preferably rectangular with the same length and width dimensions asthe main housing body 26. A rectangular flange 28 at the top of thehopper 12 (see FIG. 1) is located at the top of the body 26. A rotatinghandle 30 with an associated latch (not shown) in a vertical positionlocks the lid 14 to the rectangular flange 28 by inserting the latchinto an opening 29 on the top of the rectangular flange 28. The handle30 is rotated counter-clockwise to a horizontal position in order torelease the latch and to open the lid 14. As shown in FIG. 1, a pin 31is inserted through struts 39 on the lid 14 and associated struts 41 onthe top of the hopper 12, thereby pivotally attaching the lid 14 to therear of the hopper 12. A torsional spring 33 surrounding the pin 31biases the lid 14 to an open position, thereby allowing access to thehopper 12. The main housing body 26 also has casters 32 at a bottom end,thereby allowing the dough divider 10 to be easily moved. The shell 11is located between the rectangular flange 28 of the hopper 12 and thebottom end of the main housing body 26. Preferably, the lid 14 and thehopper 12 are made of heavy cast aluminum. A front face 37 of the shell11 has a switch housing 36 extending from the front face 37 and acontrol valve handle 38 that protrudes through a vertical slot 40 in thefront face 37 of the shell 11. The dough divider 10 is powered bypressing an on-button 34 located within a switch housing 36 and turnedoff by pressing an off-button 42 located within the switch housing 36.As described in more detail below, the reversible cylinder assembly 18is operated by raising or lowering the control valve handle 38.

As shown in FIG. 1, the dough divider 10 has a bottom rectangular baseplate 44 supported on the casters 32. A motor and pump assembly 46 ismounted or integrally formed on one side of the base plate 44 and ahydraulic oil tank assembly 48 is mounted on another side of the baseplate 44. The motor and pump assembly 46 is connected to the hydraulicoil tank assembly 48 by a suction line 45 in order to help pump oil fromthe hydraulic oil tank assembly 48, thereby operating the reversibledivider cylinder 18 (FIG. 5). Two front hexagonal lower supports 50 andtwo back hexagonal lower supports 51 are also connected to the baseplate 44, and a cylinder housing 52 is connected to the top of the fourlower supports 50 and 51. A middle rectangular plate 54 is attached tothe top of the cylinder housing 52. The reversible cylinder assembly 18is located within the cylinder housing 52 and protrudes through themiddle rectangular plate 54. A four-way valve 110 below the cylinderhousing 52 is connected to the hydraulic oil tank assembly 48 by a firsttube 49 in order to connect the hydraulic oil tank assembly 48 to thereversible cylinder assembly 18. The four-way valve 110 as described inthis application is commercially available from Husco Internationallocated in Waukesha, Wisconsin, under the parts Inlet Section 5001-A59,Spool Section 5002-A10, Outlet Section 5003-A3, Pilot Oper. Relief5060-B, Tank Port O-Ring Plug R-771-10, Bolt Kit 6131-1 and Link 52257.Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other similarlyfunctioning valves may be used. The four-way valve 110 is also connectedto the motor and pump assembly 46 by a second tube 53 in order tocomplete a fluid path between the four-way valve 110, the motor and pumpassembly 46 and the hydraulic oil tank assembly 48. When the motor andpump assembly 46 is turned on, oil is pumped from the motor and pumpassembly 46 through second tube 53 to the four-way valve 110, throughthe four-way valve 100, to the hydraulic oil tank assembly 48 from thefour-way valve 110 through the first tube 49, and from the hydraulic oiltank assembly 48 to the motor and pump assembly 46. As described in moredetail below, the oil is diverted through the four-way valve 110 to thereversible cylinder assembly 18 in order to divide the dough into equalportions.

The illustrated dough divider 10 also includes the hopper 12 at a topend which is connected to the middle rectangular plate 54 by severalupper supports 56. The hopper 12 includes an annular wall 57 with therectangular flange 28 integral with the top of the annular wall 57. Inthe illustrated example, seven upper supports 56 with a hexagonalcross-section, three in the front of the main housing body 26 and fourin the back of the main housing body 26, are located between the middlerectangular plate 54 and the rectangular flange 28 of the hopper 12. Theswitch housing 36 is attached to a front right upper support 56 a andthe control valve handle 38 is attached to a front left upper support 56b and the front right upper support 56 a. A dough dividing assembly 58is located between the middle rectangular plate 54 and the hopper 12. Asexplained in more detail below, the dough dividing assembly 58compresses the dough and divides the dough into equal portions.

As shown in FIG. 5, the dough dividing assembly 58 includes the pressplate 16, stanchions 60, a stanchion support plate 62, a knife assembly64, knife assembly supports 66 and a knife assembly support plate 68.The press plate 16 has a planar top surface 70, a planar bottom surface72 and a configuration analogous to the annular wall 57 of the hopper,whereby the press plate 16 can slide vertically within the annular wall57. In the illustrated example, the press plate 16 includes severalindividual press sections 74 (FIG. 3). The press plate 16 preferably has16, 20 or 24 individual press sections 74, although any number ofindividual press sections 74 could be used depending on the desirednumber of equal weight pieces of dough. In the illustrated example, thepress plate 16 is divided into 20 individual press sections 74 definedby a sixteen sided polygon within a circle, perpendicular cross linesthat pass through the center of the circle and partial radial linesextending from each meeting point of the straight lines of the polygonto the outside of the circle. As to be described in more detail below,the knife assembly 64 protrudes through vertical openings 76 between theindividual press sections 74 defined by the sixteen sided polygon, theperpendicular cross lines and the partial radial lines. The knifeassembly 64 divides the dough into equal weight, ready to use pieces.

In the illustrated example, the stanchion support plate 62 isrectangular and connected to each of the individual press sections 74 bythe stanchions 60, with one stanchion 60 per individual press section74. Therefore, the stanchion support plate 62 can move each of theindividual press sections 74 of the press plate 16 on a substantiallyhorizontal plate within the annular wall 57 of the hopper 12. As to bedescribed in more detail below, the reversible cylinder assembly 18 isconnected to the bottom of the stanchion support plate 62 in order toforce the stanchion support plate 62, the stanchions 60 and theindividual press sections 74 of the press plate 16 upwards or downwardswithin the annular wall 57 of the hopper 12.

In the illustrated example, the knife assembly support plate 68 isrectangular and located between the middle plate 54 and the stanchionsupport plate 62. Four knife assembly supports 66 are attached to thetop surface of the knife assembly support plate 68 and protrude throughopenings 78 adjacent the corners of the stanchion support plate 62. Theknife assembly 64 is attached to the top of the knife assembly supports66 and located between the press plate 16 and the stanchion supportplate 62. The reversible cylinder assembly 18 is connected to the bottomof the knife assembly support plate 68 in order to force the knifeassembly support plate 68 and the knife assembly supports 66 upward,thereby forcing the knife assembly 64 through the vertical openings 76in the press plate 16.

The illustrated reversible cylinder 18 includes a housing tube 80slidably supporting an inner telescoping rod 82 and an outer telescopingrod 86. The inner telescoping rod 82 has a first piston 84 at a bottomend of the inner telescoping rod 82 adjacent a bottom 92 of the housingtube 80. The outer telescoping rod 86 has a second piston 88 at a bottomend of the outer telescoping rod 86 adjacent a top 93 of the housingtube 80. The first piston 84 and the second piston 88 therefore separatethe housing tube 80 into a first oil area 94 between the bottom 92 ofthe housing tube 80 and the first piston 84, a second oil area 96between the first piston 84 and the second piston 88 and a third oilarea 98 between the second piston 88 and the top 93 of the housing tube80. The first oil area 94 is fluidly connected to the second oil area 96through a first valve 100 in the first piston 84 and the second oil area96 is fluidly connected to the third oil area 98 through a second valve102 in the second piston 88. As described in more detail below, thefirst oil area 94, the second oil area 96, the third oil area 98, thefirst valve 100 and the second valve 102 help to operate the knifeassembly 64 and the press plate 16. As shown in FIG. 5, the inner rod 82telescopes through the outer rod 86 and protrudes through the top of thehousing tube 80 to connect to the stanchion support plate 62. Likewise,the outer rod 86 protrudes through the top of the housing tube 80 andconnects to the knife assembly support plate 68. Therefore, the outerrod 86 can telescopingly slide around the inner rod 82 to move the knifeassembly 64 relative to the press plate 16.

OPERATION

To divide dough using the dough divider 10, an operator first pressesthe power-on button 34 of the switch housing 36. Motor and pump assembly46 responds by pumping oil through the second tube 53, into the four-wayvalve 110 and out of the four-way valve 110 though the first tube 49.The operator then places dough into a chamber 90 of the hopper 12defined by the annular wall 57 of the hopper 12. At the starting point,the top of blade assembly 64 is located on an even horizontal plane withthe press plate 16, thereby making an even floor for the hopper 12.After placing the dough in the hopper 12, the operator shuts lid 14 androtates the handle 30 to the vertical position in order to lock the lid14 to the hopper 12.

The operator then lifts control valve handle 38, which is connected tothe four-way valve 110 via linkage 104. When the power-on button 34 ispressed, oil is pumped through the second tube 53 into the four-wayvalve 110 and out the four-way valve 110 into the first tube 49, whichis coupled to the hydraulic oil tank 48. When the control valve handle30 is lifted, the oil passes from the motor and pump assembly 46 intothe second tube 53, through the four-way valve and into the third tube114 connected to the first oil area 94. Furthermore, oil from the thirdoil area 98 will be forced through a port 108 into a fourth tube 116connected to the four-way valve 110. The oil passing though the fourthtube 116 from the third oil area 98 passes through the four-way valve110 and into the hydraulic oil tank 48 through the first tube 49.

The oil that the four-way valve 110 diverts into the first oil area 94applies pressure to the bottom of the first piston 84. At this point,the first valve 100 in the first piston 84 and the second valve 102 inthe second piston 88 are not open. Therefore, oil in the second oil area96 cannot escape, and the first piston 84 and the second piston 88 willraise together. The first piston 84 is connected to the innertelescoping rod 82, the stanchion support plate 62, the stanchions 60and the press plate 16. The reversible cylinder 18 therefore placespressure on the press plate 16 at A (FIG. 6), thereby pushing the doughupward within the chamber 90 towards the lid 14. Therefore, the pressplate 16 will thereby squeeze the dough and remove all air in thechamber 90 as the first piston 84 and the second piston 88 rise. Thedough will therefore spread out and completely and uniformly fill theremaining area within the chamber 90 of the hopper 12. At this point,the pressure in chamber 90 and the first oil area 94 begins to riseuntil it reaches a predetermined pressure at which point the first valve100 in the first piston 84 begins to open and continues to open untilthe pressure rises to a predetermined level. At the predetermined level,the first valve 100 opens, thereby allowing oil to flow from the firstoil area 94 to the second oil area 96. Furthermore, the first piston 84and the associated press plate 16 will stop rising.

Once the first valve 100 in the first piston 84 is opened, the oil willflow into the second oil area 96 and exert pressure on the second piston88, thereby moving the outer telescoping rod 86 and the second piston88. The outer telescoping rod 86 is connected to the knife assemblysupport plate 68, the knife assembly supports 66 and the knife assembly64, and the knife assembly 64 rises with the second piston 88. The outertelescoping rod 86 therefore raises the knife assembly 64, causing theknife assembly 64 to sever the dough into the desired number of pieces.The knife assembly 64 continues to rise until it reaches the lid 14. Atthis point, the pressure between the first piston 84 and the secondpiston 88 rises until either an external relief pressure is achieved ora cracking pressure of the second valve 102 is reached. The externalrelief pressure is a predetermined pressure which can be set by a userof the dough divider 10 whereby the four-way valve 110 will stop theflow of oil to the reversible cylinder 18 and allow the oil to return tothe hydraulic oil tank 48. If the second valve 102 is cracked, the oilwill flow freely through the reversible cylinder 18, thereby stoppingthe rise of the first piston 84 and the second piston 88. Moreover, thesecond piston 88 should not be dead headed at this point, so that theknife assembly 64 can extend {fraction (1/32)} to {fraction (1/16)}inches past the top of the rectangular flange 28 of the hopper 12. Thisknife assembly 64 is set this way to insure a complete cut of the dough.

After the knife assembly 64 cuts the dough, the operator releases thecontrol valve handle 38 and opens the lid 14. Once the handle 38 isreleased, the pressure in the reversible cylinder 18 falls and the firstvalve 100 in the first piston 84 closes. The control valve handle 38 isonce again lifted, applying oil to the bottom of the first piston 84 andforcing the first piston 84 to rise. Since the second piston 88 is atthe top of the housing tube 80 when the knife assembly 64 is at the topof the hopper, the second piston 88 will not be able to rise. Therefore,the first piston 84 will move towards the second piston 88. The oiltrapped between the first piston 84 and the second piston 88 is thendischarged through the second valve 102 in the second piston 88, therebyreturning the oil through the four-way valve 110 to the hydraulic oiltank assembly 48. The first piston 84 and the inner telescoping rod 82will then rise, moving the individual press sections 74 of the pressplate 16 between the knife assembly 64 and ejecting the cut pieces ofdough.

Once the operator has removed the dough, the operator lowers the controlvalve handle 38, thereby forcing the oil from the motor and pumpassembly 46 into the fourth tube 116 connected to the third oil area 98of the housing tube 80 through the port 108. Furthermore, oil from thefirst oil area 94 is forced through the port 106 into the third tube 114connected to the four-way valve 110 and into the hydraulic oil tank 48.Therefore, pressure is applied to the top of the second piston 88 toretract the knife assembly 64 and the press plate 16, and the doughdivider is ready to be used again. The control valve handle 38 can alsobe lowered before the lid 14 is opened and after the dough has been cutin order to retract the dough divider assembly 58, thereby reducing thepressure on the lid 14 of the dough divider 10 so that the lid 14 can beopened more easily.

If the dough is left in the chamber 90 after the first piston 84 and thesecond piston 88 have been fully raised in the housing tube 80, yeast inthe dough will cause the dough to rise. The rising dough exerts pressureagainst the lid 14. To counter act the pressure from the rising dough,the dough divider 10 is provided with the two-part pressure reliefsystem. The two-part pressure system includes the reversible cylinderassembly 18 and the pressure relief opening(s) 20. As the pressure risesin the chamber 90 from the rising dough, pressure is exerted against thelid 14 and the press plate 16. Although the four-way valve 110 does notpump oil through the third tube 114 to the first oil area 94 or throughthe fourth tube 116 to the third oil area 98 when the valve controlhandle 38 is released, oil from the first oil area 94 is allowed toreturn to four-way valve 110 through the tube 114 and return to tank 48.Therefore, the pressure in the first oil area 94 can decrease and allowthe first piston 84 and the associated press plate 16 to lower. Thepress plate 16, however, is held in a horizontal location within thehopper 12 because of the fiction between the sides of the press plate 16and the inside circumference of the annular wall 57 of the hopper 12.However, once the yeast in the dough causes the dough to rise and exertpressure against the press plate 16, the press plate 16 can lower whenthe pressure exerted against the top of the press plate reaches a levelhigh enough to overcome the friction holding the press plate 16 on thehorizontal level. The press plate 16 therefore is allowed to lower andrelieve the pressure within the chamber 90.

Once the first piston 84 reaches the bottom of the housing tube 80, thepressure in the chamber 90 begins to rise again. At this point, however,the pressure relief openings 20 are exposed. The pressure reliefopenings 20 are only exposed when the press plate 16 is at the bottom ofthe hopper 12. The illustrated pressure relief openings 20 aresemi-circular cuts in the bottom of the annular wall 57 that connect theinside of the chamber 90 to the outside of the chamber 90. It iscontemplated that the pressure relief openings 20 may be rectangular orany other shape. The dough can therefore escape though the pressurerelief openings 20, thereby relieving the pressure in the chamber 90.The illustrated shell 11 (FIG. 2) of the dough divider 10 may have achute 13 extending from the pressure relief openings 20 to the exteriorof the shell 11, thereby allowing the dough escaping through thepressure relief openings 20 to be easily collected.

By providing a pressure relief mechanism such as that described above,pressure is not allowed to reach high enough levels in the hopper tocause the lid to rapidly open upon release of the latch. The inventivepressure relief mechanism thereby makes the dough divider safer tooperate.

The above description is considered that of the preferred embodiment(s)only. Modification of the invention will occur to those skilled in theart and to those who make or use the invention. For example, it iscontemplated that the bottom rectangular plate, the middle rectangularplate, the rectangular flange and the lid could have any geometricconfiguration. Furthermore, the dough divider 10 could have a chute fromthe pressure relief openings 20 to the outside of the main body housing26 through a hole in the shell 11. Additionally, chamber 90 may berectangular or any other shape. Therefore, it is understood that theembodiment shown in the drawings and described above is merely forillustrative purposes and not intended to limit the scope of theinvention, which is defined by the following claims as interpretedaccording to the principles of patent law, including the doctrine ofequivalents.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A dough divider comprising: a hopper with alid; and a press plate vertically slidable within the hopper; the hopperbeing adapted to accept dough between the lid and the press plate; thepress plate adapted to move towards the lid in order to compress thedough between the press plate and the lid within the hopper; wherein thehopper includes at least one pressure relief opening whereby pressurewithin the hopper between the press plate and the lid can be relieved byallowing the dough to escape from the hopper through the at least onepressure relief opening.
 2. The dough divider of claim 1, wherein: thepress plate has a vertical stroke between a top of the hopper and abottom of the hopper; and the press plate is configured to move towardsthe bottom of the hopper when the pressure applied to a top of the pressplate from the dough within the hopper reaches a predetermined level. 3.The dough divider of claim 2, wherein: the predetermined level is anamount of force greater than an amount of friction between the hopperand the press plate.
 4. The dough divider of claim 2, wherein: the atleast one pressure relief opening is located in the bottom of thehopper.
 5. The dough divider of claim 4, wherein: at least a portion ofthe at least one pressure relief opening is located above the pressplate when the press plate is at the bottom of the vertical stroke. 6.The dough divider of claim 4, further including: a reversible cylinderassembly configured to move the press plate between the top of thehopper and the bottom of the hopper.
 7. The dough divider of claim 6,wherein: the cylinder assembly is adapted to move downward in order toallow the press plate to move towards the bottom of the hopper when thepressure applied to the top of the press plate from the dough within thehopper reaches the predetermined level.
 8. The dough divider of claim 7,further comprising: a knife assembly adapted to protrude through thepress plate and divide the dough into an equal number of pieces.
 9. Thedough divider of claim 8, wherein: the cylinder assembly includes afirst rod telescoping with a second rod; the first rod being connectedto the press plate and the second rod being connected to the knifeassembly.
 10. The dough divider of claim 1, wherein: the lid isrotatably connected to the hopper and adapted to compress the doughwithin the hopper.
 11. The dough divider of claim 1, further comprising:a knife assembly adapted to protrude through the press plate and dividethe dough into an equal number of pieces.
 12. The dough divider of claim11, wherein: the knife assembly is configured to divide the dough into16 pieces.
 13. The dough divider of claim 11, wherein: the knifeassembly is configured to divide the dough into 20 pieces.
 14. The doughdivider of claim 11, wherein: the knife assembly is configured to dividethe dough into 24 pieces.
 15. The dough divider of claim 1, furthercomprising: a hydraulic assembly adapted to drive the press platetowards the lid.
 16. A dough divider comprising: a hopper with a lid; apress plate vertically slidable within the hopper; the hopper beingadapted to accept dough between the lid and the press plate; the pressplate adapted to move towards the lid in order to compress the doughbetween the press plate and the lid within the hopper; and a two partpressure relief system including a reversible cylinder assembly and atleast one pressure relief opening; the reversible cylinder assemblybeing connected to the press plate and adapted to move downward in orderto allow the press plate to move towards a bottom of the hopper whenpressure applied to a top of the press plate from rising dough withinthe hopper reaches a predetermined level; the at least one pressurerelief opening being adapted to relieve pressure within the hopperbetween the press plate and the lid by allowing the dough to escape fromthe hopper through the at least one pressure relief opening when thepress plate has reached the bottom of the hopper.
 17. The dough dividerof claim 16, wherein: the press plate has a vertical stroke between atop of the hopper and the bottom of the hopper; and the press plate isconfigured to move towards the bottom of the hopper when the pressureapplied to a top of the press plate from the dough within the hopperreaches the predetermined level.
 18. The dough divider of claim 17,wherein: the predetermined level is an amount of force greater than anamount of friction between the hopper and the press plate.
 19. The doughdivider of claim 16, wherein: the at least one pressure relief openingis located in the bottom of the hopper.
 20. The dough divider of claim16, wherein: at least a portion of the at least one pressure reliefopening is located above the press plate when the press plate is at thebottom of the vertical stroke.
 21. The dough divider of claim 16,wherein: the reversible cylinder assembly includes a first rodtelescoping with a second rod; the first rod being connected to thepress plate and the second rod being connected to a knife assembly. 22.The dough divider of claim 16, wherein: the lid is rotatably connectedto the hopper and adapted to compress the dough within the hopper. 23.The dough divider of claim 16, further comprising: a knife assemblyadapted to protrude through the press plate and divide the dough into anequal number of pieces.
 24. The dough divider of claim 23, wherein: theknife assembly is adapted to divide the dough into 16 pieces.
 25. Thedough divider of claim 23, wherein: the knife assembly is adapted todivide the dough into 20 pieces.
 26. The dough divider of claim 23,wherein: the knife assembly is adapted to divide the dough into 24pieces.
 27. The dough divider of claim 16, further comprising: ahydraulic assembly adapted to drive the press plate towards the lid.